CA CA - Linda Lovell, 25, & Stephen Packard, 18, Westport, 10 June 1974

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Thanks for the info about Linda's mother moving to Santa Maria. I missed that in her thread. I also missed your location as "Emerald Triangle" so of course you're familiar with the Dipsea. Oops!

Perhaps Stephen did run in the Dipsea. According to his mother in the NY Times article, he was an all-state lacrosse player so the Dipsea might have been something he'd do. I'm also intrigued by the thought that they were in Stinson Beach on June 10th and then Stephen's check gets cashed in Westport on June 20th. So what were they doing for those 10 days and with whom were they doing it? It makes me wonder if they did hang out with some local folks who might have information. The time period is really a problem, though. I haven't seen any newspaper accounts of their disappearance and so anyone that might have met them and spent time with them wouldn't have known that Stephen and Linda never reached their intended destination. Frustrating.
 
I have speculated that Stephen departed MA on his birthday; I don't recall that as a given fact in any source. There is a source that says his 18th birthday (6 June 1974) was the last time he was seen.

And while they may have hitched to the airport and flown out in time to call home per Alleykins, I am skeptical about that. Would they not have gotten a ride to the airport to guarantee catching their flight? And how about the ride from the destination airport to Stinson Beach? Let's not forget that travel was slower in 1974, both air and ground. Back in those days, my long haul trucker uncle used to run coast to coast in 96 hours...and he was known to pick up hitchhikers to keep him amused and awake.

So far as Linda is concerned, the Times article relates that she was seen after authorities say she was hitching out of Missoula because she was seen in MA.

At any rate, I want it verified Linda was in Stinson Beach, and I want to know if she subsequently left.
 
Coleraine, I pulled a pretty complete search before posting, including the local MSM. That's why I was so surprised you came up with the Times article.

I have been re-reading that article, and two things strike me. As you noted, Mom puts his departure on a Saturday, the 10th; nearest "hit" to that is the 8th. Further on, she puts his departure 4 days after the 14th--but the 18th is a Tuesday. Besides, that gives only two days for his traveler's check to show up in Westport.

She also claims something no one else does--that Stephen mailed a postcard from Westport. I find that interesting because the general tale is that an American Express Traveler's Check of his was cashed there; however, the payee was not identified.

So far, it is not only the case that we have not traced Stephen to that Bermuda Triangle of Mendocino County, darling little Westport. We have yet to definitively place him in Stinson Beach.
 
Good luck!

Quick question: in your previous post you state: "We have yet to definitively place him in Stinson Beach." But in the first post of this thread you note: "On 10 June, he called home from Stinson Beach CA. He also mailed post cards from there." Is this information from the Santa Maria PD missing person report, and if so, isn't that definitive information that Stephen was in Stinson Beach during this time even if the actual date is still in question? Someone from his family must have provided that info to the PD, right?
 
Okay, if you don't recall it, then I must have been confused because you're certainly more well-versed in this case than I am. In any case, I was assuming, since you've included it in all 3 of the threads concerning this couple that both Lovell and Packard made contact with family from Stinson Beach--Lovell via post card and Packard via phone call. At least one of your sources is the Santa Maria PD missing person report. Is this where the Stinson Beach info originated?
 
The Santa Maria PD report is dated 4 April 2012--almost 38 years after the disappearance. I think we need to find some older sources closer to the disappearance.

I pulled the SMPD report from my files. It does not give a date for the post cards mailed from Stinson Beach. That date must be from one of the other sources I found. All in links above.

I became tentative about Stephen being in Stinson Beach because of the confusion in dates that we thrashed out above. More importantly, his mother places him in Westport when she claims he mailed a postcard from there.

BTW, have you noted that Santa Maria is in Santa Barbara County, Stinson Beach in Marin County, and Westport in Mendocino County? Nor are those the only jurisdictional issues. I am still sorting out the various jurisdictions where missing persons reports were filed.
 
Linda's Missing Persons Report for Santa Maria PD arrived today. Big disappointment. It is dated 19 September 2005. Officer taking report blew it off as 30-plus year old cold case. However--two useful points. One, Spokane LE advised Linda's mother to file the report with SMPD. Two, "Steve Packard" was mentioned, resulting (finally) in the 4 April 2012 report on him. Ironically, the report on Stephen Packard also gives us more info about Linda than the 2005 report supposedly about her.
 
Stephen's mother's claim the couple left P-town MA on the 10th. Other sources have them in Stinson Beach (Marin County) the same date. However, Santa Maria PD doesn't quite have it that way; they say Stinson Beach but give no date.
 
I hadn't noted that 3 counties were involved. I'm hoping that you are able to get in touch with Linda's uncle from his post on the missingin site and he'll provide clarity at the very least on the dates/locations the family is aware of.

The fact that the couple supposedly stopped in Stinson Beach and contacted relatives from there intrigues me. Why Stinson Beach? And I continue to wonder about the age difference and how a MT woman meets and begins a relationship with a 17-18 year old in NJ. Just thinking aloud with no reason to believe it might have relevance re: their disappearance, but I wonder if they were fans of the Grateful Dead. The Dead played in NY, NJ, and PA in Sept. 1973, and they also played at the Oakland Coliseum on June 8. 1974. Jerry Garcia lived in Stinson Beach in 1974. Just a thought.
 
Does anyone know if Stephen called home collect or reverse charges when he called from Stinson Beach? Because that would have shown up on the phone bill and would have been proof positive at least he was there. His mother also said in that article that the post cards stopped after three weeks, which would have put his last known date of contact after when his last traveler's check was cashed. But, that depends on three weeks from when, I guess.
But, you're right, if they left on the 10th, like his mother stated, and they were hitch hiking, there's no way they'd get there that fast, so it appears something may be on the time line here.
 
That's a great thought about the phone charges, Alleykins. I do wonder if that bill would still be available after all these years.

I have doubts about the mother's accuracy, though not about her truthfulness.

The problem I see with these two intertwined cases is that they have been reported missing in so many places. Because the information on them is scattered everywhere, it's not collected in one spot. I am trying to centralize that info.
 
Today I am mailing inquiry letters to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office and to the Spokane Police Department asking for Linda's Missing Person Report.
 
Today I sent off an inquiry letter to the Marin County Sheriff's Office asking for Stephen's Missing Person Report.
 
Today, I sent forth inquiry letters requesting Missing Person Reports on this pair. I asked both the Sheriff and the City Police in Spokane about Linda, and the Marin County Sheriff about Stephen. Here's hoping the replies will supply more leads.
 
burblestein said:
That's a great thought about the phone charges, Alleykins. I do wonder if that bill would still be available after all these years. I have doubts about the mother's accuracy, though not about her truthfulness.
The problem I see with these two intertwined cases is that they have been reported missing in so many places. Because the information on them is scattered everywhere, it's not collected in one spot. I am trying to centralize that info.
Click to expand...
It's possible but it would take a subpoena to get the phone records. Even though the call was made prior to divestiture, last I knew Verizon still had access to the old legacy systems used by Ma Bell, and those records go waaay back. I know this because when my current company bought the Verizon territory in northern New England they ran those old billing tapes by mistake and billed customers going back to the 60s. I figure if they can do it by mistake, they should be able to do it on purpose, but I wonder if that would even be necessary. If he did call collect, the call would have gotten billed on the next billing cycle, which possibly wouldn't have come to the end of the month, beginning of July, as the phone company used to bill a month behind back then. If that's the case, then I hope either his mum or investigators would have kept a copy of it. It would have shown up at about the time they suspected something was wrong.
 
The one fact that seems very significant is that Stephen had $800 in travelers checks but only $20 was cashed on June 20th in Westport. I think it is a safe assumption that had someone stolen his travelers checks, they would have cashed all of them, not just the one (as I recall, $20 was the smallest denomination). It is highly likely that Stephen was alive and well in Westport June 20.

I really doubt they were in Stinson Beach June 10th. I hitchhiker in Calif in the 70's and a presentable couple should have been able to hitch from Stinson to Westport (174 miles) in a day easily. If they really were there on that date, they went somewhere else first or were hanging out somewhere they didn't need much in the way of money.

I think they cashed the check in Westpoint and proceeded north where something bad happened before the $20 ran out. In the 70's, a thru hitchhiker who was sleeping rough in a sleeping bad and eating in convenience stores, could manage on a few dollars a day. Assuming Linda also had some money, they could have made it well up the Oregon coast.
 
I've been thinking along somewhat the same lines, Kemo. Linda had $600 in traveler's checks, but there was no indication they were cashed. That one traveler's check is the only one of either of their checks that was confirmed as cashed. I get a mental picture of Steve and Linda depending on the money in their pockets and the kindness of strangers until they get to Westport. It seems a viable theory; it just lacks proof. Thus my attempts to limn a timeline that will trace them there. However, I don't know about their continuing to Oregon. Westport is located just south of the Shoreline Highway's turn back inland; just north of Westport is the Lost Coast, too rough for the road builders. Present day, there is a dirt road that does continue up the coast, called the Usal Road. It is marginally passable; I once drove a Toyota sedan through there but it was a struggle. Whether it was there in 1974, I can't say, but I am familiar with it from the mid-'80s. The Usal campground is about 6 miles in on the Usal Road, and located on the beach.

And then there is that tricky Mendocino surf to consider. If they camped or picnicked on the beach near Westport, a sleeper wave may have got them. At any rate, they were the first of a series of disappearances near that tiny town.
 
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